I'm a versatile writer, editor and content strategist. I'm known for breaking news, writing travel stories, business profiles and in-depth features, but throw any subject at me and I'll make it accurate, interesting and relevant. I've written for TIME magazine/Time.com, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Travel + Leisure, U.S. News & World report and 30+ outlets. I've covered the trial of Rod Blagojevich, eaten crickets in Cambodia, gone dog-sledding in Alaska and interviewed the likes of Maya Angelou and Magic Johnson. I've managed a stable of in-house writers and freelancers, coordinated multimedia projects, and craft data driven infographics. I've ghostwritten speeches and lead content audits to overhaul websites.

I'm also a "politely aggressive" reporter, a strong researcher and interviewer who can get anyone to talk about anything. After starting my career as a sports reporter at the Dallas Morning News and St. Petersburg Times, I still enjoy the competitive nature of any industry.

Finalist; Society of Professional Peter Lisagor Award for Best In-Depth Reporting and Best Investigative Reporting 2011, Time Out Chicago magazine.Winner; Society of Professional Peter Lisagor Award winner for Best Breaking News Story 2010, Time.com Won first place in Florida Society of Professional Journalisms 2006 Awards of Excellence competition in 100,000+ circulation light feature category. Part of St. Petersburg Times staff that earned Associate Press Sports Editors 2004 Top 10 Best Sports Section for over 250,000 circulation. Contributed to the Fort Worth Star-Telegrams Associate Press Sports Editors 2000 Top 10 Best Sports Section for over 250,000 circulation with a sports section in-depth take-out story about cancer-surviving cyclist. 1998 Thomas Keating Feature Writing Competition Finalist for Indianapolis Press Club.

Associations

President and two-term board member, Chicago Headline Club, the largest Society of Professional Journalists Chapter in the Country. Directed and supervised non-profit board of 24 journalists and a club of more than 400 members and $134,000 in reserve. Championed Freedom of Information issues, managed professional programming, student scholarships, wrote and assisted with Watchdog grant application. During presidency, the Headline Club earned National Outstand Large Professional Chapter Award (2008-09) out of 75+ chapters. Orchestrated Chicagos largest media awards banquet, the Peter Lisagor Awards, with more than 280+ attendees and included a multimedia experience with a PowerPoint presentation, video, photos and Twitter updates. Also co-founder of SPJs National Freelance Committee.

Speaking engagements: ASJA's Content Connections, November 2013; Making Media Connections Conference, Chicago, Ill. June 2009, 2010 and 2011; Social Media Panel, Chicago, Ill. May 2009; How to Pitch a Journalist, Community Media Workshop, Chicago, Ill. February 2009; Freelancing: Liability, Performance and Pay, Chicago Women in Publishing, Chicago, Ill. February 2008; Moderator and Organizer: How to Break into Freelancing, the Business of Freelancing; Society of Professional Journalist National Conference. New York 2004.

B.A. in journalism from Indiana University.

Freelancer Availability

I freelance full-time. I live near Chicago, IL. I am willing to travel anywhere. I have a driver's license. I have access to a car.

Want to know more about Maya Angelou? Read my first-person essay about going to her home in Harlem. Find out why she asked me to kiss her on the cheek and said modesty comes off faster than a G-string on a stripper.

CHICAGO - More than 200 people, including Evansville police officer Karen Vaughn-Kajmowicz and her wife Tammy, arrived at 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal on Tuesday to hear the arguments on same-sex marriage bans in Indiana and Wisconsin.

JOLIET Ill. (Reuters) - An Illinois woman who helped plan a robbery that led to a double murder and who spent the stolen cash on cigarettes should be found guilty of murder, the prosecution said on Tuesday in closing arguments at a trial in the Chicago suburb of Joliet.

JOLIET Ill. (Reuters) - The star witness in the trial of a grisly double murder that shocked veteran police officers in the Chicago suburb of Joliet testified on Thursday how she and her friends planned to rob their two male victims.

Whether a proposed display last year of crosses on Evansville's publicly-owned Downtown riverfront constituted a government endorsement of religion or of Christianity over other religions were issues Tuesday before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

More than 4,000 backlogged rape kits have been turned in to Illinois state police. The oldest dates back to 1978. Now, 22 percent have been found a DNA match in FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, which tracks DNA of criminals and will likely link a rape victim with a suspect.

Cover story for Time Out Chicago. At 333 miles, the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac is the longest annual freshwater sailing race in the world. The grueling two-and-a-half or three-day slog requires crews to sleep in shifts every two or four hours in the beating rain, scorching sun and bitter co

Two weeks ago, as the prosecution made its final points in his corruption trial, a pale Rod Blagojevich listened nervously while his wife Patti looked on, sullen and indignant, from the bench, the arms of her brother around her. It was as if they could feel what was coming.

"Mr. Blagojevich, you are a convicted liar, right?" U.S. assistant attorney Reid Schar boomed into the courtroom late that afternoon. And in response, Blagojevich flung back a "yes" over his lawyer's objections. The long-awaited cross-examination was under way, and like two caged animals posturing t

This story made Time.com's 10 Most Popular Stories of the week, holding the No. 1 spot for eight days. The Wisconsin State Capitol had taken on an eerie quiet by late Friday. Gone were the throngs of protesters who had occupied its marble floors like it were a summer campground. The midnight honking

The rich have gotten much richer," bellowed Jesse Jackson Jr. amid the rumble of cheering voices, horns and maracas. "Yeah!" roared back the crowd of at least 10,000 protesters who had gathered in Madison, Wis., Thursday morning. "It's about the rights of workers," Jackson continued. "The rights of

The nervous laugh rolled off Rahm Emanuel's tongue. "Anything in the news you guys want to talk about?" he asked a gaggle of reporters at a press conference Monday afternoon, Jan. 24. It was a rhetorical question. He knew what the issue of the day was. That day, news spread quickly and virally that

Blinking back tears from her lilac-covered eyelids, Marsha Emanuel looks around at the crowd of 250 cheering for her son Rahm at Chicago's North Side John C. Coonley elementary school and says, "This is the moment I've been waiting for."

This story made Time.com's No. 1 most read story list on Sunday, September 26. A Roman Catholic priest publicly speaks out for the first about how he helped train a woman, a friend for the priesthood and his struggle about women in robes.

How big is the news that Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago will not seek re-election for a seventh term in 2011? "It's huge," says U.S. Representative Mike Quigley, a former Cook County Commissioner who taught Chicago politics at Loyola and Roosevelt Universities for seven years. "Only in Chicago wo

Robert Blagojevich couldn't believe the text message on his phone Thursday morning. It was from his defense attorney Michael Ettinger: "They have dismissed the charges." His wife Julie began crying. "Wait until we know everything for sure," Robert Blagojevich told her.

On the last day of jury deliberations in the trial of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. paced the courthouse cafeteria in his three-piece suit. Pausing near the trash bin, he began to pontificate.

The fund former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has been using to pay his defense lawyers is officially gone. After his arrest on Dec. 9, 2008, the fund, originally established to support his campaign efforts, had approximately $2.6 million. He then began using the money to pay his legal fees. Now

Part of a reporter roundtable discussion about the important news of the week including the trial of Rod Blagojevich. Chicago Tonight's Week in Review airs weekly on PBS' WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago. Watch the video with this link.

At about 3:20 a.m. on Tuesday, the first person in a line of more than 60 people for the closing arguments in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial was Dan Bender, a 64-year-old Chicago retiree who once owned a trucking business on the South Side of Chicago and has been writing legal briefs as a rese

During a break Thursday, July 8, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich turned around to talk to members of the public sitting in the courtroom on the 25th floor of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. He began to apologize. "I'm sorry about the language," Blagojevich said to a

Tears streamed down the face of Patti Blagojevich as the recorded voice of her husband, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, echoed in the courtroom of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. "It's very important for me to make a lot of money," Blagojevich said to his chief of s

Like most dreamers, Logan Square's Tristan Hummel was told by some naysayers that his idea of putting art on Chicago's El train just wouldn't work.
"A lot of people didn't believe in it, because it's hard to image how it might work," said Hummel, 23, who hosted the first "Art on Track" show last

Rev. Michael Eaddy and his two sons came across a few guys playing basketball on a broken-down court in Garfield Park known as "The Hole" and challenged them to a game.
"The guys from the community began to laugh and doubt that we could play basketball at all," Eaddy's son, William, 33, said, re

Rev. Erik Christensen clutches a 64-ounce Diet Coke while a parishioner fixes a rusty slop sink - it's a double Big Gulp kind of day for the pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square. The minister knows that what his century-old church with its neo-Gothic flying buttresses really needs is

Less than three hours after surgery for an unruptured brain aneurysm, Vivian Moore was upright in her hospital bed at the Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago in Ravenswood telling her children how lucky she felt.

Last year, Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water. Turns out, the joke's on us: Not only are top sellers Aquafina and Dasani just bottled public water, but the wasteful plastic packaging will still be lingering in the year 3000. But do water snobs have a valid argument that private water taste

"She spoke softly, choking out the words. "I love her," the 15-year-old girl told the judge. "And all I'm asking is to talk to her...." A 1A story about a high school student who wants, along with her father, to retain contact with the former high school teacher and coach who had a sexual relationsh

"At one time, the Cowtown Inn was a bustling landmark, a place where celebrities like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson stopped in to take a dip in a pool shaped like a Texas star...." A new asbestos-removal plan is keeping the derelict Fort Worth Cowtown Inn standing.

Some have called her "the Tower of Blunt." At six feet tall, Toni Preckwinkle, president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, is a female force whose no-nonsense style has made her one of the most powerful politicians-of any gender-in all of Chicago.

Chicago prides itself on being "the city that works," but making good on that mantra requires strategic planning, ingenuity, and the ability to evolve. For MarySue Barrett, president of the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC), it's about collaboration.

There are foolish gambles, and there are calculated risks. For hotel real estate and private equity investor John Rutledge, the founder and CEO of Chicago's Oxford Capital Group, avoiding the former has made all the difference. "I've never been a cowboy," he says.

It's 2:30 in the afternoon, and Chicago Department of Aviation commissioner Rosemarie "Rosie" Andolino is already on her fifth-or maybe sixth-cup of coffee with cream. "I lost track a few hours ago," she jokes as she grabs a seat by O'Hare International Airport's new aeroponic garden in Terminal 3.

It's a sunny Saturday in late May, but the Eldean Shipyard in Macatawa, Michigan, is nearly silent. Inside a metal storage facility, a massive black sailboat sits in a cradle nearly three stories high.
It's called il Mostro (Italian for "the monster"), and there's a reason for that.

The afternoon glow of a sinking sun peeks through Albert Friedman's office, backlighting a bookcase filled with green, blue, and caramel-colored glass bottles still frosty from the Great Chicago Fire that glazed them more than a century ago.

Budgets are tight, and Christmas is coming. Bah humbug. Shake off that Grinchy attitude by shopping a largely overlooked venue: estate sales.
Many people go to estate sales to restock their cabinets with everyday items. And there certainly are things such as half-used bottles of detergent that y

Just call him the "bra man."
Oz du Soleil, 44, of Chicago's Kilbourn Park has hundreds, if not thousands of bras in his basement. Boxes and boxes of them, sorted in their cardboard containers by cup size, each holding every type and style imaginable.

It is a balmy fall day just a few weeks post-Beijing Olympics. Inside the historic Hilton Hotel on Chicago's Michigan Avenue, guests and fans are swirling in a frantic frenzy like worker bees preparing the hive for its queen.

When Pete Sampras, on the cusp of winning a record-setting 13th Grand Slam victory, was injured during practice with a simple backhand at the 1999 U.S. Open, he was forced to withdraw from the tournament. The cause: an acute herniated lumbar disc. The decision to compete or withdraw fell heavily on

The cheers are deafening as Jerry Springer saunters across a suspended
catwalk, straddles a two-story stripper pole and slides down through a cloud
of smoke to chants of "Jer-ry! Jer-ry!" A curvaceous female security guard
dressed in a tight black tank top hands him a microphone.

Chicago's debonair designer, Nate Berkus, is lounging in his expansive office housed in a former horse barn turned into a spacious urban design studio. On his desk sits, among other things, Jon Krakauer's book Into Thin Air, the product of an ongoing cross-country book trade with a friend from

An increasingly popular reference tool for soon-to-be parents, a nameologist suggests baby names based on everything from family history to numerology. With the help
of two local couples, Chicago tested out one of the country's most-sought-after practitioners, Maryanna Korwitts of Naperville, auth

"John Millard's hands move quickly as he shapes a leather heel. He rotates the leather, his arms gliding in half circles as he carefully works through his latest repair.
Being here in the back room of John's Shoe Repair is like walking back in time to a day when the local cobbler was a fixture.

"Their weekly ritual begins. Dora stands in front of the bedroom closet, her eyes narrowed as she tries to see the clothes on their hangers. She can only make out a fuzzy blur, but that's enough...." An in-depth love story about a couple in their 70's that met during WWII. Won Society of Professiona

CRYSTAL RIVER - John Tunstall's stormy blue eyes gleam with pensive persistence.
"I don't want to know what's down there," Tunstall says.
At 77, he's had three heart attacks and suffers from Alzheimer's disease. But a new exercise regimen has improved his quality of life.

Finding an apartment in this city isn't usually a competitive sport. That cutthroat stuff is for New York, where apartment seekers have been scrambling for a few hundred square feet in Manhattan for years, in many cases engaging in bidding wars with rival renters. But lately, Chicagoans like myself

I have a new love. He is hot, sexy and likes to move fast.
When I first saw him, it was love at first sight.
I never thought it would be like this. But sometimes welcomed surprises come in the most unusual forms.

GAINESVILLE - I had a lot riding on the Florida-Ohio State national championship, mainly a steak dinner and big helping of humility.
It started with a little trash talking between me and one of my co-workers and escalated into the winner buying the loser dinner.
True to my Big Ten roots, I wa

"My heart beats faster. I stand on a beach, surrounded by nearly a hundred women all waiting for the same thing. Our feet scratch the sand as we jump around, flailing our arms and shaking our legs....." A column about doing a triathlon after nearly dying.

Bob Knight is more than images of chair throwing and player confrontation. He is a father. He is a son. He is a husband. He is a Hall of Fame coach. He is arrogant, and he is passionate. He was my teacher.

Trying to orchestrate such a colossal sporting event is hard enough without having to make contingency plans for inclement weather. Here's a look at what Mary Pat Augenthaler, Vice President of Events for the NFL had to say about what it takes to plan and host a Super Bowl.

Elizabeth Brackett likes to joke she's a jock who's old enough to collect Social Security.
"I've always liked to compete," says the 69-year-old, who is host for WTTW-TV's Chicago Tonight program and an award-winning correspondent for PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.

Mary Wineberg is driving in circles around the University of Cincinnati. Each lap is perhaps a quarter mile - a distance with which she's thoroughly familiar - and she circles again and again looking for a spot.

INVERNESS -- A.J. Woythaler paces Citrus' goal. Dressed in a lime green jersey that looks like a turtle shell with its black patches, he dribbles the soccer ball with quick flicks of his legs. His shaggy blond hair mimics his movements. Up, down. Up, down. He does this 30 or 40 times before every ga

INVERNESS - Citrus football coach Rik Haines' loud voice bellows through the dark, muggy air.
Despite it being nearly six in the morning, football players mill around the practice field.
"You've got one minute to get out here," Haines yells towards the locker room.
By his standards, it's

HERNANDO - Dakota Shipp's right arm rotates. His wrist snaps quickly, deceivingly, for it is his forearm that truly controls the lasso above his head.
The movement slices the morning heat as wooden rope and air make contact. The whipping noise is commonplace here, where horses, donkeys and cattle

"It was in the shadows of Churchill Downs' paddock tunnel that Dan Hendricks sat in his wheelchair and watched the race unfold. With his youngest son's arm wrapped around his neck, Hendricks nervously clutched a black bodog.com baseball cap awaiting the start of the Kentucky Derby....."

"The silver tufts on Marc Casse's head contrast sharply in the early morning sun with his Pepto pink shirt and tanned skin. Standing outside Barn 17 on a muddy patch, the Ocala native reflects and jokes easily despite being several days away from having his first horse - Seaside Retreat - contend in

Citrus senior Janea Thaler squats low, rotating the bat around. With her head bearing down she looks to the mound. The dog and pony show has started and she's in the center of it. Answering the high-pitched summons of her coach, Butch Miller, Thaler uncomfortably shifts around in the dust, waiting t

The sun slowly sinks beneath the backdrop of goal posts and a half-filled Citrus High stadium. Former San Francisco 49er Kevin Fagan's well-defined, 6-foot-3 frame is silhouetted on the sideline of a Citrus Springs Middle School football game.

To say Mike Hampton Sr. is upset with Crystal River High School is an understatement. The father of Crystal River graduate and current Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Hampton said he was offered and verbally accepted the Pirates head baseball coaching position - only to find out through hearsay

HERNANDO - George Foster looks up. The twinkle in his eye makes him seem much younger than his 46 years. His muscles bulge beneath a fitted silver shirt. He is signing autographs at the Ted Williams Museum and can't stop grinning.

CITRUS HILLS - Patient and precise, Ted Williams always waited at the plate until the ball reached a finite area in the strike zone.
Operators of his public namesake - the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame - hope public donors who have been holding out will do the same, and start sendi

Maybe this should be called the city of brotherly love. While NBA star Steve Nash has already made his mark in the Big D, younger brother Martin Nash is trying to find his niceh as a professional indoor soccer player for the Sidekicks.

Bob Knight is more than images of chair throwing and player confrontation. He isa father. He is a son. He is a husband. He is a Hall of Fame coach. He is arrogant, and he is passionate. He was my teacher.

This was the chance of a lifetime, the Ultimate NFL Road Trip. Myself and two other interns logged 25,542 miles driving across the USA to see two or three games a week. We drove to thirty cities, 30 NFL stadiums and saw 30 NFL games in four months.

A controversy over naming rights for the Broncos' new stadium is swirling like the snowstorm that blanketed the Mile High City before the team's Monday night game with Oakland. Just a few hundred yards apart, the old stadium and the new stand practically side-by-side.

When he co-founded 37signals, a Chicago-based software firm, in 1999, Jason Fried had no idea he'd become The New York Times bestselling co-author of "Rework," a book about starting and running a "right-sized" business."

More than ever, conference attendees want a personalized experience tailored for them. Gone are the days where handing a business card and buying a drink is enough. That's why event planners are trying to learn as much as possible about their attendees by leveraging technology.

Silicon Valley is known as the biggest technology haven in the U.S., but Chicago has rapidly grown in the past few years as a tech startup hot spot in the Midwest. Companies like Groupon, GrubHub and 37signals started in The Second City.

Preparing for digital education by 2017. For years, there's been an ongoing discussion about the digital divide between the "haves" and the "have nots." As technology has advanced, so has that gap, which is driving fundamental changes in how we work, learn, and live.

Five years ago, the Mooresville Graded School District in North Carolina went digital, with laptops and MacBook Air computers district wide.
The district has not purchased a textbook in over five years, with the exception of those required for high school Advanced Placement classes.

A new platform for mobile devices. The Windows 8 operating system, which splashed on the market in October 2012, is changing the landscape of Microsoft-based computers. The once traditional PC operating system is making the move toward a more mobile, tablet-based environment in schools. With it come

School principals are in the middle of a balancing act when it comes to security. They need to create a welcoming, supportive open environment for students and credible community visitors who have legitimate purposes in their buildings, while keeping out individuals who potentially have ill intentio

Visitor management programs and software are a growing trend in K12 schools, according to Chuck Hibbert, a national school security consultant and the retired director of security for Wayne Township Schools in Indianapolis.

The afternoon glow of a sinking sun peeks through Albert Friedman's office, backlighting a bookcase filled with green, blue, and caramel-colored glass bottles still frosty from the Great Chicago Fire that glazed them more than a century ago

No. 1 most read story on Am Ex Forum for three days. Want to protect your estate from Uncle Sam? There are few important changes you should pay attention to based on new legislation that passed in December for the 2011 tax year.

Do you think it's too hard to get a job in this economy? Are you holding out for your dream job? Think again. The economy isn't great, but there are plenty of ways to get a good job if you are willing to change your perspective.

Break-ups are always difficult. Some are more amicable than others. When it comes to the legalities of a divorce, be it personal or a business relationship, most people run to an attorney and prepare for battle.
It may become necessary, but there's another route that should be tried first: mediat

Story made Top 10 List of most read on AmEx Forum. Iron Butterflies. Although some may think of the 1960's psychedelic rock band, this concept is about women taking charge. At its core, its about making women great leaders and highlighting the many female negotiators who often get overlooked by uppe

Traditionally, book and magazine publishers the last to convert to a new technology. Despite initial hesitations, Jason Patendaude, President and CEO of Chicago-based Carus Publishing, a children's magazine and book business, got creative and took a calculated risk. Carus, under Patendaude's directi

Many companies want to create an app. But where do you begin? There's so much to consider. It's important to do it on the front end, because adding details after a contract has been signed with a developer can cost significantly more money.
Here are some tips businesses you should consider when

Pop the champagne. The honeymoon of mobile Apps is over in 2011. Enter the early marriage of business and mobile. Like any relationship, that means work for any business that wants their App to stand out this coming year. What was an initial goldmine rush in 2009 and the early part of 2010 has becom

Whether social networking, managing personal finances, or playing games, you'll discover that getting on the Internet is easier than ever before whatever your age.
Navigating the web for the first time is like visiting a new city, like Paris, for the first time. Everything is new and different, won

As Vice Chairman and Midwest Regional Managing Partner for Deloitte LLP, Deb DeHaas is one of the most powerful women in finance today; at home, she's one of the busiest moms, raising three sons with the help of her husband and numerous minivans. So how does she still find time to donate her talents

How much are Chicagoans spending online? Also view a "How We Compare" chart and a "By The Numbers" list of what is being purchased online.
This is a e-commerce business story that focuses on the financial aspects of shopping and buying online.

This magazine feature focuses on single women who are trying to decide if they want to make the leap and buy a condo or home in Chicago or continue renting. Learn tips from real estate agents and new home owners about how they made the decision to buy a condo in Chicago.

After Jessa Brinkmeyer earned her journalism degree from Northwestern last year she chucked her budding fashion-writing career and created Pivot, the city's first boutique devoted entirely to eco-friendly fashion. "I want people to realize they don't have to sacrifice high fashion to be eco-smart,"

Investigative business story about how Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame was in serious financial trouble. The investigation showed that the museum did not receive an endowment or any money from Ted Williams' estate.

Cruising to Alaska had never been on my dream list. But when the opportunity for a bargain-basement deal on the Norwegian Pearl presented itself, I pushed aside my doubts and decided to take a seven-day summer cruise from Seattle through southern Alaska.

Jacques Torres' thick French accent resonates through his cell phone, as his voicemail tells callers, "A day without chocolate is like a day without romance." That heightened passion about chocolate is why New York's master pastry chef has become known as "Mr. Chocolate."

New York City's Evan Levine has always been a "huge hockey fan," rooting for the New York Rangers and watching the college football games of his alma mater, Northwestern. For his job with Citibank, Levine typically travels two to three days a week all over the country.

The bearded man quietly navigates the dimly lighted Hinterland restaurant to the corner table where my boyfriend and I sit. It's like the star of "Walker, Texas Ranger" has just appeared in this gastropub. "Does anyone ever ask you if you look like Chuck Norris?" I ask.

When you're going to the "Big D" - Dallas - it's all about living large with flash and cash, and a flair for country. Nothing is more Texas than football, from Friday night lights to the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

Since the days of bootlegging and Al Capone, Chicagoans have always liked their spirits and beer. Chicago has been right on trend, its craft breweries popping up as movement has exploded across the country.

Cover story: Making a Southern splash with Cajun and Creole seafood and shellfish. For people who love Cajun and Creole food, the holy trinity is a culinary journey paved with onions, bell peppers and celery. But just as important -and possibly as much of a spiritual experience - are the iconic seaf

AAA Living story about the California Zephyr, part of cover story package about the best train trips around the world. Listen to the audio interviews and see the photographs from my Amtrak train trip on the California Zephyr which goes from Chicago to San Francisco.

There is something about gathering together on a cold winter's night. What better way to gather friends and loved ones than around a dinner table talking and drinking for hours while eating delicious homemade ravioli?

NEGRIL, Jamaica - "Have you ever kissed a dolphin," the woman behind the counter asks me. "It's love at first kiss. Once you start, you can't stop," said Suzayne Moseley, who works at Dolphin Cove here. "It's like kissing a Jamaican man," she continued. "Have you done that?"

It's a balmy 80-degrees on a late January day in Montego Bay, Jamaica. I'm sitting in the open air lobby patio of the famous Round Hill Hotel overlooking the Caribbean Sea. During my stay in a private 6-bedroom villa, I had the chance to mingle with an Austrian ambassador and his wife, and a French

It's hard to predict when violence might erupt. But in light of what is happening in Egypt and other places around the world, it's important to take a few preliminary precautions when traveling for business. Here are a few suggestions from Philip Farina, a member of the U.S. Department of State Dipl

Picture sun-drenched seascapes and a laid-back lifestyle where sandals are the perfect accessory for any occasion. This is where Florida truly begins! Tucked along the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa Bay is home to some of the top-rated beaches in the world. (Including my personal favorite, Caladesi Island, a

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- "Ring the bell and salute," came the battle cry from the bar.
Ding! The old ship bell behind Siebkens' Stop-Inn Tavern bar sounded the alarm. The last person to give a military salute has to buy a shot of Jagermeister.

I'm not a Fear Factor kind of gal. Sure I've been dogsledding in Alaska, and diving and zip-lining in various parts of the world. But the thought of bungee jumping or skydiving terrifies me. Nor have I ever harbored a desire to be like the Travel Channel's Andrew Zimmern, the host of Bizarre Foods,

There are more than 160 ships in the fleets of the 24 major cruise lines and more than 7,500 itineraries, from Alaska to Zanzibar. So how do you decide which one most suits your style? Evaluate your options using these simple guidelines:

The holiday season is all about family and sharing. OK, it's really about getting presents, but, you know, cut us some slack, we're trying to get into the spirit. To help us out, we asked local chefs about some of their favorite family holiday dishes that they're sharing with you this year.

DAVID FRIEDMAN just wanted to go out to lunch. But he couldn't find a kosher restaurant in Chicago. This restaurant review showcases how hard it can be to eat out if you are trying to keep kosher. The Crowne Plaza hotel, in the West Loop, offers kosher Jews dairy-free, American-style foods like

It started as a simple idea centered around how to make more friends. Jordan Harbinger was attending law school and wanted to meet new people, so he Googled "how to make more friends." His interest in the psychology of social dynamics instantly piqued, and he realized trying to meet and make new fr

In her years of travel, quirky TV host Julia Dimon has stymied the typical idea of road warrior fitness. It's easy to become complacent when trying to juggle business meetings and fitness routines while traveling. After dealing with Fort Knox-like airport security lines and hours of jet lag, most pe

Budgets are tight, and Christmas is coming. Bah humbug. Shake off that Grinchy attitude by shopping a largely overlooked venue: estate sales. (Vintage shops get much of their merchandise from estate sales, then double or triple the price.)

What you need to know before moving forward
It's the dirty word: Divorce. No one likes to think about it or prepare for it. But realistically, nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. It's a well-known fact that many couples contemplating a divorce will stay together for the holiday season wi

Pelvic health is not a topic most moms typically discuss. But there can be plenty of problems "down there," such as bladder leakage, that are the direct result of going through pregnancy and childbirth.

Tom Perrotta has done it again. His latest book, The Abstinence Teacher is sure to be another bestseller that will make a run at the box office.
This highly charged novel that is already being made into a Warner Independent movie, takes a closer look at sex education and

For Andrea Barrett fans, it will come as no surprise that science, romance and historical fiction surround the essence of her latest novel.
The Air We Breathe details the complicated entanglements between personal relationships, a growing anti-immigration discourse and public fear of tuberculosis

A one-on-one "girl talk" with New York Times best-selling author Meg Cabot. From how she never wants to have kids to her fear after 9/11 that made her start writing in bed, along with the latest on her book: Queen of Babble in The Big City

"Hemingway had Cuba. Tim Crothers has Inverness.
The small Citrus County town, tucked away from the bustle of urban life, is where the former Sports Illustrated writer chose to write his first book, a biography about University of North Carolina women's soccer coach, Anson Dorrance...."

Mobile banking is now the preferred banking method for 6 percent of consumers, according to an August 2012 survey by the American Bankers Association. While that may seem like a small percentage, it's an increase of 100 percent since 2010.

Many entrepreneurs are finding the only way to grow their business is by becoming more mobile, but time away from the office can mean long hours spent catching up on other responsibilities, including managing the company's finances.

What is the argument for including commodities in an investment portfolio today? How does the political turmoil in the Middle East affect oil prices, and what do you see developing that might help offset the unrest?

The 2009 40 Under 40 winners are among some of the best and brightest minds in our industry. They've created innovative systems to solve difficult engineering problems, both in North America and abroad. These young geniuses have won awards and risen quickly to the top in their fields. They've worked

The 2008 40 Under 40 winners highlighted here are among the elite. They are engineers and business owners, mothers and fathers, inventors and innovators, athletes and mentors. They were selected based on a variety of criteria, which started with a nomination from a colleague, supervisor, or mentor.

Half way through her doctorate in interdisciplinary studies, Shannon Decker realized something was missing. Decker, a former teacher turned operations manager for Health Net, a Fortune 100 company, was pursuing her degree, when she decided to switch her focus and follow her dream.

When Kim Blackham, a licensed marriage and family therapist, began searching for online universities to earn her doctorate, she knew she wanted to transfer in credits for several classes she had previously taken at Atlanta's Richmont Graduate University.

Michelle Hook Dewey jokes that when she started her online master's degree with the University of Illinois in 2011, all of her homework was organized in paper folders.These days, Dewey does everything electronically.

It's one thing to start your online degree, but it's another to finish it.Completion rates for online students are tough to track, since the U.S. Department of Education only began looking at the issue recently, but many instructors and school leaders say the numbers are low.